SOCIAL ORGANIZATION :
Here are two men disputing; one knocks the other down, kills him, and then concludes that he who is alive must have been right, and that he who is dead must have been wrong, a mode of demonstration still accepted in international disputes. Here are two other men disputing; one says to the other,"Let us not fight, we may both be killed,let us take our differences to some elder of the tribe,and submit to his decision." It was a crucial moment in human history! For if the answer was, "NO" barbarism continued, if it was "YES" civilization planted another root in the memory of man,the replacement of chaos with order,of brutality with judgment, of violence with law. Here, too, is a gift unfelt, because we are born within the charmed circle of it's protection,and never know its value till we wander into the disordered or solitary regions of the earth.
TOOLS :
We need not be ashamed of our prosperity, opportunities once confined only to barons and kings have been made by enterprise the prerogatives of all. We grow gigantic arms that build in a month the pyramids that once consumed a million men,we make for ourselves great eyes that search out the stars of the sky,and little eyes that peer into the invisible cells of life, we speak, if we wish, with quiet voices that reach across continents and seas, we move over the land and the air with the freedom of timeless gods. in flying we have freed ourselves, and now we may look the eagle in the face.
No these tools will not conquer or defeat us. These great inventions and future ones are clear and visible steps in our progress to a slaveless world. The menial labor that degraded both master and man is lifted from human shoulders and harnessed to the tireless muscles of iron and steel and fibers, soon every wind and every sun ray will pour it's beneficent energy into factories and homes, and man will be freed for the tasks of the mind. It is not revolution but invention that will liberate the slave.
to be continued, salamat for now.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
More progress..... (3)
THE CONQUEST OF THE ANIMALS :
Our memories are too forgetful, and our imagination too unimaginative, to let us realise the gift we have in our security from the larger and sub human beasts of prey. Animals are now our playthings and our helpless food, but there was a time when man was hunted as well as hunter, when every step from cave or hut was an adventure, and the possession of the earth was still at stake. This war to make the planet human was surely the most vital in human history; by it's side all other wars were but family quarrels. That struggle between strength of body and power of mind was waged through long and unrecorded years, and when at last it was won, man's safety on earth was transmitted across a thousand generations, to be part of our heritage at birth.
AGRICULTURE :
Civilization was impossible in the hunting stage; it called for a permanent habitat, a settled way of life. it came with the home and the school, and these could not be till the products of the field replaced the animals of the forest or the herd as the food of man. No doubt it took centuries to make this greatest of all transitions in human history, but when at last it was made, progress began.
Civilization came through two things chiefly, the home, which developed those social dispositions that form the psychological cement of society, and agriculture, which took man from his wandering life as hunter, herder and killer, and settled him long enough in one place to let him build homes, schools, churches, colleges, universities, civilization.
More thanks to W.Durant.
Our memories are too forgetful, and our imagination too unimaginative, to let us realise the gift we have in our security from the larger and sub human beasts of prey. Animals are now our playthings and our helpless food, but there was a time when man was hunted as well as hunter, when every step from cave or hut was an adventure, and the possession of the earth was still at stake. This war to make the planet human was surely the most vital in human history; by it's side all other wars were but family quarrels. That struggle between strength of body and power of mind was waged through long and unrecorded years, and when at last it was won, man's safety on earth was transmitted across a thousand generations, to be part of our heritage at birth.
AGRICULTURE :
Civilization was impossible in the hunting stage; it called for a permanent habitat, a settled way of life. it came with the home and the school, and these could not be till the products of the field replaced the animals of the forest or the herd as the food of man. No doubt it took centuries to make this greatest of all transitions in human history, but when at last it was made, progress began.
Civilization came through two things chiefly, the home, which developed those social dispositions that form the psychological cement of society, and agriculture, which took man from his wandering life as hunter, herder and killer, and settled him long enough in one place to let him build homes, schools, churches, colleges, universities, civilization.
More thanks to W.Durant.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Further progress ... ( 2 )
FIRE :
Fire made man independent of climate, gave him a greater compass on the earth, tempered his tools to hardness and durability, and offered him as food a thousand things inedible before. Not least of all it made him master of the night, and shed animating brilliance over the hours of evening and dawn. Picture the dark before man conquered it; even now the terrors of that primitive abyss survive in our traditions and in our blood, once every twilight was a tragedy, and man crept into his cave at sunset trembling with fear. how good it is to be liberated from our ancient fears!! We shall never be grateful enough for light.
More precious words by W.Durant
Compiled by me.
Fire made man independent of climate, gave him a greater compass on the earth, tempered his tools to hardness and durability, and offered him as food a thousand things inedible before. Not least of all it made him master of the night, and shed animating brilliance over the hours of evening and dawn. Picture the dark before man conquered it; even now the terrors of that primitive abyss survive in our traditions and in our blood, once every twilight was a tragedy, and man crept into his cave at sunset trembling with fear. how good it is to be liberated from our ancient fears!! We shall never be grateful enough for light.
More precious words by W.Durant
Compiled by me.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Ideas to better understand progress. ( 1 )
Let us first define progress as "increasing control of the environment by life," and let us mean by environment "all the circumstances that condition the coordination and realization of desire." progress is the domination of chaos by mind and purpose,of matter by form and will.
Certain great moments stand out as the peaks and essence of human history,certain advances which, once made, were never lost. Step by step man has climbed from the savage to the thinker and scientist, I will in the coming few days briefly outline these stages of man's growth, we start today with:
SPEECH ; think of it not as a sudden achievement, nor as a gift from the gods, but as the slow development of articulate expression, through centuries of effort, from the mating calls of animals to the lyric flights of poetry. Without words, or common nouns, that might give to particular images the ability to represent a class, generalisation would have stopped in its beginnings, and reason would have stayed where we find it in the brute. Without words, philosophy and poetry, history and prose, would have been impossible, and thought could never have reached the subtlety of Einstein or Anatole France. Without words man could not have become man--nor woman woman.
Words by W.Durant.
Compiled by me.
Certain great moments stand out as the peaks and essence of human history,certain advances which, once made, were never lost. Step by step man has climbed from the savage to the thinker and scientist, I will in the coming few days briefly outline these stages of man's growth, we start today with:
SPEECH ; think of it not as a sudden achievement, nor as a gift from the gods, but as the slow development of articulate expression, through centuries of effort, from the mating calls of animals to the lyric flights of poetry. Without words, or common nouns, that might give to particular images the ability to represent a class, generalisation would have stopped in its beginnings, and reason would have stayed where we find it in the brute. Without words, philosophy and poetry, history and prose, would have been impossible, and thought could never have reached the subtlety of Einstein or Anatole France. Without words man could not have become man--nor woman woman.
Words by W.Durant.
Compiled by me.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Understanding the real value of things !!!
To know the real value of 10- 20- or 30 years.... ask a couple who just divorced.
To know the value of 4 years.... ask a newly graduate student.
To know the value of 1 year.... ask a student who failed his end of year exams.
To know the value of an hour.... ask some lovers waiting to meet.
To know the value of a minute.... ask someone who just missed his train or airplane.
To know the value of a second or a fraction of a second.... ask an athlete who won the gold,bronze,or silver medal.
To know the true value of a friend.... lose one.
To know the value of 4 years.... ask a newly graduate student.
To know the value of 1 year.... ask a student who failed his end of year exams.
To know the value of an hour.... ask some lovers waiting to meet.
To know the value of a minute.... ask someone who just missed his train or airplane.
To know the value of a second or a fraction of a second.... ask an athlete who won the gold,bronze,or silver medal.
To know the true value of a friend.... lose one.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Iran's role in the world,
Are we, and I mean the US and our administration's strategy vis a vis Iran, are we playing the Iranian hand to it's fullest,? are we not offering the Iranians the whole Arab masses, and most of the Muslim world opinion ??
Just by playing the Israeli policies against Iran with no clear objective as to how we could win the Iranian situation we are loosing the whole middle eastern situation.
there is nowadays a clear sentiment with most Arabs that Iran is the only force against Israel, as well as the sole defender of the Arab and Muslim pride.
In the past days, The west and the US specifically, instead of pressuring for some sort of start to the solving of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, we saw the administration totally give in to Israeli refusal of even temporarily stoping the settlements , so in the eyes of most Arabs and Muslims, cultured or masses, the administration's inability to resume any meaningful solution to the conflict,thus recreating and resulting in the same feelings that only force can solve the problem.
The Iranian regime, is playing a masterful and a winning game, even if we manage to restrict it's ability to maneuver, through sanctions and other international forms of pressure, (I hope that the Israeli option of bombarding Iranian nuclear facilities is once and for all out of the picture).
No Arab or Muslim can in all fairness not think of the double standards of the west regarding the Iranian nuclear program and it's counter part the Israeli actual nuclear achievements and their weapon arsenals, so wether we curb Iran or not,it is becoming irrelevant, as we are already on the full path of helping to make them the defenders of the greatest cause of the Arabic people as well as all Islamic nations.
Shiism and Sunnism conflict, is becoming a conflict between the rulers and regimes of the Arab world and only in their heads, they are more and more being isolated from their own masses and we here refuse to see that, refuse to address and solve the greatest conflict,ie the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, that could give us such upper hands in all future middle east issues.
I fully agree with the notions that we ought not succumb to different forms of mid east linkages, and that both sides;ie the Palestinian and the Israelis should start by offering step by step concessions to reach a comprehensible and livable two state solution, I strongly believe that the US should have pressured the Israelis to start the process this time by firmly asking the Israeli side to start themselves the process of the first needed concession, we would have gained enormous Arab confidence, cut the game on Iran, and would have started a real peace prospect, instead we are now back to point zero and Iran is way ahead of us in the game.
Maybe it is high time we look at the conflicts in the greater middle east with an eye considering our own interests and not others who could surely turn against us any time our paths or interests diverge.
Just by playing the Israeli policies against Iran with no clear objective as to how we could win the Iranian situation we are loosing the whole middle eastern situation.
there is nowadays a clear sentiment with most Arabs that Iran is the only force against Israel, as well as the sole defender of the Arab and Muslim pride.
In the past days, The west and the US specifically, instead of pressuring for some sort of start to the solving of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, we saw the administration totally give in to Israeli refusal of even temporarily stoping the settlements , so in the eyes of most Arabs and Muslims, cultured or masses, the administration's inability to resume any meaningful solution to the conflict,thus recreating and resulting in the same feelings that only force can solve the problem.
The Iranian regime, is playing a masterful and a winning game, even if we manage to restrict it's ability to maneuver, through sanctions and other international forms of pressure, (I hope that the Israeli option of bombarding Iranian nuclear facilities is once and for all out of the picture).
No Arab or Muslim can in all fairness not think of the double standards of the west regarding the Iranian nuclear program and it's counter part the Israeli actual nuclear achievements and their weapon arsenals, so wether we curb Iran or not,it is becoming irrelevant, as we are already on the full path of helping to make them the defenders of the greatest cause of the Arabic people as well as all Islamic nations.
Shiism and Sunnism conflict, is becoming a conflict between the rulers and regimes of the Arab world and only in their heads, they are more and more being isolated from their own masses and we here refuse to see that, refuse to address and solve the greatest conflict,ie the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, that could give us such upper hands in all future middle east issues.
I fully agree with the notions that we ought not succumb to different forms of mid east linkages, and that both sides;ie the Palestinian and the Israelis should start by offering step by step concessions to reach a comprehensible and livable two state solution, I strongly believe that the US should have pressured the Israelis to start the process this time by firmly asking the Israeli side to start themselves the process of the first needed concession, we would have gained enormous Arab confidence, cut the game on Iran, and would have started a real peace prospect, instead we are now back to point zero and Iran is way ahead of us in the game.
Maybe it is high time we look at the conflicts in the greater middle east with an eye considering our own interests and not others who could surely turn against us any time our paths or interests diverge.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A president and a reality !!
When Mr. Obama was elected for office back in Nov. many Americans as well as people of most countries of the world had a vision-like image of what this president means as a great possibility for change, change of many issues America and the world was stuck with for decades, and the need for a radical change to the policies governing them.
To mention some and maybe the most meaningful issues, let me name health care reform, the Iraq pull-out or policy, the Afghan destiny and our handling of it, and as well the middle east Israeli/Palestinian problem. These were issues/policies the president had visions and campaign promises for. Of course the president inherited a full scale economical catastrophe and an almost total melt down of our American system and the international one as well.
Every one of his supporters, the writer as well, were calling for giving the man some time, as every realistic person would, and in fact he seems to be doing quite some difference on the economical scene in America and subsequently the world, even his words that it's a long way to total recovery are appreciated against a possible euphoria of his accomplishments to date, but here I want to caution of the actual approach to the other issues now facing us all. The issues I've mentioned earlier affecting local or international arenas, the problem lies with a president that is very eloquent, intelligent, and civilized in manners and politics, but unfortunately not as forceful or doer as most of us have wished him to be.
The handling of the present administration to most major issues facing us is so timid, unpractical and so dangerous to the issues themselves, that no interested person could or should ignore the way they're being handled.
The health care reforms are now half stripped and possibly more is on the way, giving the republican side more command and a bigger hand in stopping them all together, and that's dangerous to all of us who support implementing the reform package in its original promised form.
The Iraqi problem looks now more as a continuation of the previous administration's unfocused and wishywashy implementing of no policies at all, and that's very dangerous to the US in the region and the future Iraq and of course to the Iraqi people.
The Afghan problem seems so far now from nearing an intelligent end than at any moment since we got involved, there I would share the president's idea that it is the war we can not afford to loose or get away from. And in my opinion, we have no right to abandon the scene before we totally cripple the Islamic fanatics power in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It could be a very serious danger to America and the world to leave a wounded and half alive party of God as they like to think of themselves to come back and gain control of either or both countries.
Getting so far again from any practical vision or plan to start a meaningful peace momentum in the middle east, and caving almost totally to the Israeli way and interests, is putting the administration out of the game, or at least in a position where the actual status quo will prevail for a much longer time. The Arab side will loose confidence in this administration to try and get the conflict into even a semblance of a fair outcome, and this is very dangerous to the stability of the region and the world, especially if the Israeli side decide based on their renewed confidence of the American/Israeli partnership, to end Iran's nuclear facilities by force.
President Obama needs to start forcing his way into shaping his ideas and policies with more determination and if needed more arm twisting of some of his adversaries and allies as well. All successful presidents through American history, and in the world for that matter, had to sometime deviate a bit and work forcefully trying to implement right and just causes. Not doing so might show civic comportement, but not getting them implemented is damn dangerous to us all, as we could loose the issues themselves for good or for a long postponement at best.
A white house without the ability to effectively and decisively enforce their agenda and issues, is an institution without real effective power, and in regard to this administration, its president and its issues, this could be very dangerous.
To mention some and maybe the most meaningful issues, let me name health care reform, the Iraq pull-out or policy, the Afghan destiny and our handling of it, and as well the middle east Israeli/Palestinian problem. These were issues/policies the president had visions and campaign promises for. Of course the president inherited a full scale economical catastrophe and an almost total melt down of our American system and the international one as well.
Every one of his supporters, the writer as well, were calling for giving the man some time, as every realistic person would, and in fact he seems to be doing quite some difference on the economical scene in America and subsequently the world, even his words that it's a long way to total recovery are appreciated against a possible euphoria of his accomplishments to date, but here I want to caution of the actual approach to the other issues now facing us all. The issues I've mentioned earlier affecting local or international arenas, the problem lies with a president that is very eloquent, intelligent, and civilized in manners and politics, but unfortunately not as forceful or doer as most of us have wished him to be.
The handling of the present administration to most major issues facing us is so timid, unpractical and so dangerous to the issues themselves, that no interested person could or should ignore the way they're being handled.
The health care reforms are now half stripped and possibly more is on the way, giving the republican side more command and a bigger hand in stopping them all together, and that's dangerous to all of us who support implementing the reform package in its original promised form.
The Iraqi problem looks now more as a continuation of the previous administration's unfocused and wishywashy implementing of no policies at all, and that's very dangerous to the US in the region and the future Iraq and of course to the Iraqi people.
The Afghan problem seems so far now from nearing an intelligent end than at any moment since we got involved, there I would share the president's idea that it is the war we can not afford to loose or get away from. And in my opinion, we have no right to abandon the scene before we totally cripple the Islamic fanatics power in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It could be a very serious danger to America and the world to leave a wounded and half alive party of God as they like to think of themselves to come back and gain control of either or both countries.
Getting so far again from any practical vision or plan to start a meaningful peace momentum in the middle east, and caving almost totally to the Israeli way and interests, is putting the administration out of the game, or at least in a position where the actual status quo will prevail for a much longer time. The Arab side will loose confidence in this administration to try and get the conflict into even a semblance of a fair outcome, and this is very dangerous to the stability of the region and the world, especially if the Israeli side decide based on their renewed confidence of the American/Israeli partnership, to end Iran's nuclear facilities by force.
President Obama needs to start forcing his way into shaping his ideas and policies with more determination and if needed more arm twisting of some of his adversaries and allies as well. All successful presidents through American history, and in the world for that matter, had to sometime deviate a bit and work forcefully trying to implement right and just causes. Not doing so might show civic comportement, but not getting them implemented is damn dangerous to us all, as we could loose the issues themselves for good or for a long postponement at best.
A white house without the ability to effectively and decisively enforce their agenda and issues, is an institution without real effective power, and in regard to this administration, its president and its issues, this could be very dangerous.
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